Nick and Nora, Sid and Nancy  Take Two
by Schnucki08
Summary: How much would have changed, if Jess' first night in Stars Hollow would have gone differently?


**Nick and Nora, Sid and Nancy**

Lorelai stood before her dearest dinerman's nephew , trying hard to stay patient. She knew this type of kids, knew it better than she wanted to admit, because she once had been one of those kids who hated the whole world.

She tried hard not to judge Jess for his offending attitude. He probably had a hard time adjusting. She would not stand on her own veranda, though and let him get too cheeky with her.

"Oh Jess, let me give you a little advice" she said, trying to make him understand. She wasn't against him because he wanted space or to test her boundaries or whatever, but she would get mad if he refused to see that she was here, giving him a chance.

"The whole 'my parents don't get me' thing, I've been there."

"You have, huh?" he replied, still not giving up his attitude.

"Yes, I have. I've also done the 'chip on my shoulder bit. Oh and the surly, sarcastic 'the world can bite my ass' bit. And let me tell you, I mastered them all. In heels, yet" Lorelai grinned, showing him he hadn't lost major points yet.

"Everything you're feeling might be totally justified. Maybe you are getting screwed. But Luke is a great guy. He's very special. He supported me when I could barely support myself and he's always helped me looking out for my daughter."

She smiled a little when Jess turned his head a bit more in her direction, indicating that he was listening.

For a moment or two, he seriously considered crushing her hopes for him right there, but he caught himself and let her say what she wanted. Maybe she did understand a bit of what he was feeling, who knew.

"Your mother might have given up, but you have a real chance here with Luke. You can still be sarcastic, he will give you your space. No one expects you to jump for joy over being here without your consent. We just want you to see that the whole world doesn't have to be hated. You can trust two or three people without them screwing you over later. Your uncle definitely belongs to those people, so does Rory and I could, too if you want me to."

"Look", Jess sighed. He was half ashamed to admit it to himself but he appreciated her efforts. It seemed as if she cared even though she didn't even know him – or maybe because she didn't, he thought with half a scowl.

"You say you know how I feel. So I'm pretty sure you know I've got some serious trust issues. Don't be offended but I won't pour my heart out to you. Or Luke. Not until I know for myself you won't slap me in the face with all my shit later."

Yay, progress, Lorelai thought, happy. Maybe he wasn't hopeless. Just a little lost.

"That's okay. I never really thought you would. Come on, I guess tupperware parties aren't exactly your thing, but give us a chance and we'll try not to torture you too much."

Lorelai gave him a small smile, grabbed her beer and went back into the house. She gave Jess the option to either follow her or bail. He sighed again, rolled his eyes at himself and followed the older Gilmore into the kitchen, and then the living room, grabbing a soda from the fridge on his way.

He wouldn't open up to Dr. Laura (sorry, Dr. Lorelai) anytime soon, he knew that, but maybe, just maybe getting shipped off to Pleasantville wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"Figure it out" Rory challenged, smiling down at her book and turned to leave.

He just told her he's read Howl about forty times. Did she really think he didn't know the source of that particular nickname?

She was cute, Lorelai's daughter. A bit too shy maybe, and a bit too goody-goody. But in a town like this, it was probably no surprise.

He learned, at the night of his 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' dinner, that Luke was right about one thing. Mother and daughter were pretty alike, with Rory having a slightly tighter grasp on reality. Lorelai was kind of crazy (in a surprisingly refreshing way), different from the craziness of the other residents of this whacky town. He found her funny, and he knew she, as well as her daughter, enjoyed his dry remarks.

Jess also learned that, apparently, Lorelai was not yet over her sarcastic phase, like she'd claimed on her veranda.

He didn't let himself ponder the fact that he kind of bonded with a 34-year old woman. He didn't let himself think about many things over the past week. Kind-of friendly adults, or the crazy Korean at his school who wanted to be friends with him because, apparently Rory Gilmore told her he was nice.

Now, nice and Jess didn't really fit into the same sentence. He wasn't a jerk by nature, or something like that, but he also never made any attempt to seem 'nice' to other people. That just showed Rory's innocence yet again, trusting him when she had no obvious reason to do so.

He also didn't let himself think about his growing fascination with said small town princess, who seemed to be too smart for her own good in some areas and just adorably naïve in others.

"Oliver Twist" he called at her retreating back and showed her his crooked smile when she turned again to grin at him, nodding her head.

"So, do you want to stare at our shoes now, or is there too much homework in the way?" he asked, not thinking she would actually agree to hang out with him.

She paused a moment, probably to think about it, and then nodded her head again. "Getting the folder was actually the last part of my homework" she said, lifting her shopping bag a bit. "I guess we could stay out for a while but let me get this home, and tell my mom where I'm going first."

Well, of course, that was to be expected. Her coming along in the first place was kind of surprising. But he didn't mind one bit. He accompanied her home and that took her to the bridge behind the high school where Luke had pushed him in the water after he was being a pain.

They stayed out there for about two hours, talking about nothing and everything. From books, over parents, friends and school to personal life.

He easily let her talk more. He didn't feel like sharing his life story, for one, and she seemed to enjoy telling him things.

She talked about her mom a lot, her best friend Lane (the crazy Korean), some girl from her school who drove her nuts and her boyfriend. She didn't leave anything out. Only when she realized it was already half past ten on a school night, she rushed home after a hasty goodbye.

Jess walked slowly back to the diner and helped Luke close up for the first time since he got here.


End file.
